Tam high school district failed to file required disclosure of salary costs

The Tamalpais Union High School District failed to publicly lay out the costs of a pay hike for teachers before the raise was approved as required by state law, an official from the Marin County Office of Education confirmed Friday. However, the lapse appeared to be a technical oversight that did not trigger any alarm bells.

"The bottom line is, to the letter of the law the public disclosure was not provided at the time the board approved (the raise), so that's an issue," said Terena Mares, assistant superintendent of business services at the county education office. "From an operating perspective, their budget is fine."

The district's board voted unanimously in July 2012 to approve a 2 percent teacher pay raise for 2012-13 and a 1-2 percent raise for the next year, depending on property tax revenues. The salary agreement was projected to increase the average teacher's pay by $3,153 over two years to $92,487 per year.

The agreement, which also added a minor increase in benefit contributions, was projected to add about $451,000, or 1 percent, to this year's general fund budget of $46.3 million.

Under a 21-year-old state law, AB 1200, school districts are required to publicly detail such costs before the board approves an agreement, and file a disclosure with the county education office.

"The spirit behind the law is to inform the public when the board is taking action that materially changes the district's operating budget by virtue of a salary settlement," Mares said.

However, the district, which oversees high schools in Central and Southern Marin, did not file its disclosure form until last month, more than four months after the agreement was approved.

"It just was an oversight," said Lori Parrish, the district's assistant superintendent for finance and facilities. "In the future I will do the disclosure at the same time as we put it (a labor agreement) on the books."

Parrish pointed out the district has made several public disclosures related to the salary increase. Its 2012-13 budget, which was approved in June, included the costs of a projected salary increase, albeit a smaller pay hike than the one approved a month later.

In the fall the district publicly revised the budget with new cost information, and it sent its AB 1200 disclosure form to the county.

Mares said the late disclosure did not raise serious concerns because the law is targeted at preventing districts from approving salary deals that could push them toward insolvency, but the Tam district's budget is healthy.

"This was a misunderstanding on their part," she said of the school district.